Sustainable Energy and the Developing World

The availability of adequate and affordable energy is what has prompted the development of industrialized countries over the past 200yrs. Access to energy is fundamental to improving quality of life and is a key imperative for economic development. In the developing world, energy poverty is still widespread. Nearly 1.6 billion people still have no access to electricity, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).  The tenet is straight, without energy there can be no development.

Now what is sustainable energy? Sustainable energy is defined as energy in which its production or consumption has minimal negative impacts on human health, the ecosystem, and can be supplied continuously to future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable energy should be seen as a superset of renewable energy. At present, the world (even the developed) depends heavily on fossil fuels as a means of energy, but over the last 30 years we have begun to see a shift in the demand for fossil fuels for cleaner and more environmentally friendly sources of energy such as wind, geothermal, solar e.t.c.

Which countries can be classed as developing? Defining a developing country in terms of energy is one whose citizens are negatively affected by very low consumption of energy or the non –availability or affordability of energy. Africa is heavily blessed with renewable energy potential in sunlight, biomass, windpower e.t.c but sadly these abundant resources are not been harnessed. As a matter of fact, a continent like Africa is the most disposed to enjoying renewable energy.  Quite a number of renewable energy technologies have been so improved that they can now provide electricity at a lower cost than other supply options. In general, the costs of most forms of renewable energy have declined substantially in recent decades. In the early 1990s only hydro-power was competitive with electricity generated by conventional power plants. However, expanding markets and experience – proven cost reductions have made wind and geothermal power nearly competitive with other conventional sources. ^[1] 

Fig 1: Forecast of Electricity generation in developing countries

Extracted from Dilip Ahuja, etal, (2009), “Sustainable energy for developing countries”

There is no way developing countries can talk of a sustainable energy economy without mentioning the transportation sector. The transportation sector in both developed and developing world still heavily depends on energy gotten from fossil fuels. It also still accounts for a quarter of the world’s energy demand. Latest research and development has left the transport sector with two options as regards sustainability.

1. Encourage sustainable, low-carbon biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels.
2. Improving vehicle efficiency and reducing emissions and pollutants.

Sustainable energy in the developing world can be brought about by these 2 major practices:

• Technology Transfer
• Energy Efficiency

Technology Transfer

A lot of clamor has been made on transfer of technology between the developed countries and the developed ones. As a matter of fact, there are numerous agencies that have been setup to see the successful transfer of technology. A couple are the World Bank Group (WBG), and the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Fund(GEERF). Now before transfer of technology can even be perceived, one thing must be considered; the need of the receiving country which in our case is sustainable energy.

Transfer of technology requires more than just moving highly sophisticated gadgets and equipments from the developed to the developing world. It should compulsorily entail the training of local engineers or whoever is intended to manage, operate or administrate the use of such technology. The process of transferring technology should also include a step – by – step assessment and review of progress reports by the trainer. The end result for the recipient must be the ability to use, replicate improve and possibly re-sell the technology.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency in its simplest definition is using less energy to provide the same service. It involves getting the most productivity from every unit of energy. Energy efficiency should not be confused with energy conservation. Energy conservation can simply be defined as reducing or going without a service to save energy. The industrial sector uses 160 Exajoules (EJ) of global primary energy which is about 37% of total global energy use. In the developing world, the industrial sector accounts for about 50% of energy consumption. ^[2] The energy consumption rate in developing countries has been increasing at an average of 5% every year whereas in the developed world, this rate is between 0.5% and 0.6%. ^[3]

Unfortunately, with growth in the industrial sector also comes pollution thereby increasing the need for energy efficiency. Energy efficiency can be set in motion by opting for these decisions:

1. Setting up an energy management standard
2. Creating industrial awareness
3. Information Sharing
4. Capacity Building of energy experts and suppliers
5. Implementation of policies by government that favors investment.

In conclusion, the developing world just cannot be left behind and must begin including energy –efficient practices in all sectors of their economy. Transportation and industries have been cited in this article because they consume the most amount of energy and also emit the most pollutants.  There is no time like the present for action to be made.

 

References

^[1] Dilip Ahuja and Marika Tatsutani, (2009), “Sustainable energy for developing countries” http://sapiens.revues.org/823  Online since 27 November 2009

^[2] United Nations Industrial Development Organization,(2008), “Policies for promoting industrial Energy efficiency in developing countries  and transition economies.”

^[3] EconomyWatch, (2010) “Energy efficiency in developing nations”.

Germany ends nuclear power

Reports from Berlin have revealed that Germany have finally decided to phase out all nuclear reactors by 2022. Following months of deliberation, protests and reviews after the Fukishima incident, the bold decision was formally announced. Germany is the first industrialized nation to renounce the use of nuclear power. Chancellor Angela Merkel declared, “We believe we as a country can be a trailblazer for a new age of renewable energy sources”. She added, “We can be the first industrialized country that achieves the transition to renewable energy with all opportunities for exports, development technology jobs that comes with it”.

Germany currently has 17 nuclear reactors and generates 23% of its energy requirements from nuclear power. It will be recalled that 7 of this 17 reactors were taken offline in March this year for safety reviews following the Fukishima incident. Well under the disclosed transition blueprint, these 7 reactors located at Bavaria, Frankfurt, and Baden-Wuerttemberg to name a few are never to be re-opened again. The eight reactor known as the Kruemmel facility which has already been decommissioned due to persistent technical problems would also never be used again. Another 6 is scheduled to go offline by 2021 and the 3 newest by 2022.

Crude Oil: A Blessing or a Curse?

Oil together with natural gas is no doubt the most used energy source accounting for about 54% of world energy supply [2008 World Energy Consumption]. Not only this, for countries that possess this valuable resource as natural gifts of nature, it generates great amount of foreign exchange for them. Oil in its crude form is practically useless until it is refined into its constituent fractions: gasoline, kerosene, diesel, natural gas, asphalt and so on. On planet earth, virtually nothing is done without energy and most of this energy is gotten from oil.

In fact, human existence in the 21st century is heavily reliant on oil. Our industries rely on gasoline and diesel to power factory machinery. In the same wise, we also need fuel to move around in our vehicles as electric and solar powered cars will still take some time before being economically popular with the driving population. These are just only a few of the close knits we have with the natural resource called the “black gold” without mentioning the use of asphalt for the construction of roads and bridges or the manufacture of petrochemical products such as plastics, detergents, ethylene from oil. The reality is that oil is so important that oil producing countries can hold the world to ransom by altering their daily production of it. These alterations drastically affect the world oil prices which in turn affects the economy of every country through increase in fuel prices. These oil supplying countries hold the bread and the knife and they can share to anyone as they please. FACT!!! Now after affirming our close dependence on oil, we must also not forget the adverse effects its use has brought. Exploration of oil alone causes severe environmental degradation to the locality in which it is being extracted. Oil spills have the ability to completely destroy water bodies and make them uninhabitable for aquatic animals.

Apart from the negative consequences of spills, refined oil like diesel and gasoline when combusted give off carbon(IV)oxide which is a major contributor towards global warming. CO2 does this by retaining ultraviolet rays from the sun within the atmosphere thereby causing the earth to heat up. Asides CO2, emissions like sulfur and soot also destroys plant life and irritates the eyes and lungs.

In spite of the lordly positions oil producing countries occupy and the huge foreign exchange they generate daily, the benefits are still not being felt by large majority of their citizens with Angola, Kuwait, Nigeria, Libya still being ranked amongst the poorest in the world with GDP less than $3 a day. So in conclusion, how should we really view oil? A blessing or a curse? Is it a blessing by reason of the amount of energy it provides for day-to-day use or is it a curse by virtue of the damage its use is causing on the ecosystem? My view point is that we humans by our actions have made it both.

New Discovery: Producing Hydrogen from Natural Gas without CO2 Emissions

New Discovery: Producing Hydrogen from Natural Gas without CO2 Emissions

To date, producing hydrogen from natural gas as a clean fuel alternative has been anything but clean. The effort to produce hydrogen from natural gas has had the negative impact of producing carbon dioxide in the manufacturing process.

Now a doctoral researcher, Mohamed Halabi at the Netherlands’ Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), has demonstrated the ability to produce hydrogen fuel from natural gas, without producing carbon dioxide. Halbi received his PhD May 9 and news of his discovery might serve to keep him busy in coming years on the evolution of alternative clean fuels. Read the full News.

New Solar Product Catches Up to 95 Percent of Light Energy

New Solar Product Catches Up to 95 Percent of Light Energy

ScienceDaily (May 16, 2011) — Efficiency is a problem with today’s solar panels; they only collect about 20 percent of available light. Now, a University of Missouri engineer has developed a flexible solar sheet that captures more than 90 percent of available light, and he plans to make prototypes available to consumers within the next five years. Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor in the MU Chemical Engineering Department, says energy generated using traditional photovoltaic (PV) methods of solar collection is inefficient and neglects much of the available solar electromagnetic (sunlight) spectrum. The device his team has developed — essentially a thin, moldable sheet of small antennas called nantenna — can harvest the heat from industrial processes and convert it into usable electricity. Their ambition is to extend this concept to a direct solar facing nantenna device capable of collecting solar irradiation in the near infrared and optical regions of the solar spectrum.  Read the full news.

15 Ways You Can Conserve Energy

1. Unplug phone chargers from wall sockets when battery gets filled up. Leaving the phone chargers connected to electricity wastes power and shortens the life span of the phone chargers.
2. Wash your clothes with warm or cold water instead of hot. Only in cases where clothes are completely soiled dirty should you wash your clothes in hot water.
3. When it’s time to replace your old appliances and other home equipments, choose the ones that give the most energy sufficiency. Look for appliances that are labeled with the energy savers label.
4. Do not always purchase the largest or most fashionable equipments. Only purchase appliances that have the capacity to meet your required demands and not excessively above it.
5. Replace all incandescent bulbs with fluorescent light bulbs. Fluorescent light bulbs are 4 to 6 times more efficient than incandescent light bulbs. For example, a 15 watt fluorescent light bulb will give off equivalent light (lumens) that a 60 watt incandescent bulb will emit.
6. Change all kerosene stoves to electric cookers. Kerosene cookers are not in anyway energy sustainable or efficient. Only a tiny fraction of energy gotten from the combustion of kerosene is converted to useful heat that cooks food. Not only this, kerosene stoves give off a lot of carbon IV oxide which contributes to global warming.
7. When buying products from the supermarket or mall, choose the ones that have the recycle logo on them over the ones that do not. The amount of unrecyclable waste being generated yearly the world over is alarming. The United Nations estimate this figure to be over a billion tonnes. Unless efforts being made towards managing it are sped up, the world may just be turning into one large trash dump.
8. Surveys have revealed that the refrigerator is the single most energy consuming appliance used in the home. It accounts for an average of about 20% of the electricity bill used within a particular period. Use a thermometer or an already installed thermostat to keep the temperature of your refrigerator between standard limits. Refrigerator temperature should be kept between 3 °C – 4°C (35°F – 38°F) while freezers should be kept between -18°C to -15°C(0°F – 5°F).
9. Ensure that the door of your refrigerator or freezer is always shut air airtight. Don’t leave the refrigerator door open for too long. Pick what you want and close the door back immediately.
10. If you have been using a heating or storage appliances such as flasks, water heater, pressure cookers, e.t.c for upwards of 10 years there may be need for you to see a technician with it to inspect the insulating wrap to reduce heat loss.
11. The air-conditioner is another home appliance that consumes a lot of energy. In the tropics or arid regions of the earth where temperatures can get uncomfortably high, there is need to moderate the energy consumption of this equipment.  Have a working thermostat regulated air conditioner that kicks off in the hot afternoon and hibernates in the cool evening.
12. When room temperature is cool or moderate, avoid using air conditioners. Instead make use of fans which consume less power.
13. Plant trees which provide good shade. Shade trees are known to give off a cooling effect. Planting shade trees around your home can help reduce usage of air conditioners thereby saving you money.
14. When thinking of buying a new car, take serious consideration towards purchasing cars which offer good mileage. According to Forbes, the cars with the best fuel economy (mileage) are the Volkswagen Golf TDI ($22, 354) and the Volkswagen Jetta TDI ($22,830). They both give 30mpg (miles-per-gallon) in the city and 42mpg (miles-per-gallon) on the highway. The Honda Fiat ($i4,900) a less costly vehicle, also gives off good gas mileage offering 27mpg city efficiency. Other brands of cars that offer the best mileage and fuel economy are the Toyota Yaris, Ford Escape SUV, Honda Civic Gx. Note that the list isn’t limited to the above mentioned cars.
15. On some occasions try walking or riding a bike to school, take the bus or train to work. Leave your car alone for a while. Help reduce the carbon in the environment. Stop global warming.

Nuclear Energy: What it is and should we be scared?

A lot of people are just plain scared about the proliferation of nuclear power in the world. This article takes a look at nuclear energy, what it is, how it works and if our fear of it is justified?

       What is it?

 Nuclear energy is gotten from the splitting of uranium atoms through a process called fission. This process takes place within a nuclear reactor. There are other nuclear materials that could be used but uranium (U-235) is the most preferred because of the ease with which it splits. Upon splitting, waste radioactive materials are produced, in the case of uranium, plutonium-239 is produced.

             How it works

The fission process generates heat used to boil water to steam. The steam is in turn used to power turbines to generate electricity. It’s principle of operation is quite similar to that of the steam turbine except that it does not use coal, oil or gas to power it.

If not for the potential environmental hazards and health risks caused by the radioactive materials, nuclear power has the latent ability to supply the energy requirements of the world. Currently, 16% of the world’s electricity now comes from nuclear energy. 85% of this figure is dominant in developed countries.

The United States, France and Japan together account for about 56.5% of the nuclear generated electricity though that figure is set to be reduced as a result of the shutdown of the Fukushima reactors in Japan after the earthquake that rocked that part of the world. As at December 2009, the world was said to have 436 reactors.

         Dangers involved in harnessing Nuclear Power

1. The formation of plutonium as radioactive waste and the mining of uranium produce radioactive isotopes that contaminate the environment.  The isotopes that are formed during any chain of reaction involving radioactive elements can affect the land, plant, animals e.t.c.
2. Radioactive wastes that are formed take an extremely long time to decay (half life). Plutonium-239 for example has an estimated half life of 24,100 years. It will take plutonium-239 an average of 10 half-lives before it can effectively become harmless, that is about 241,000 years.
3. The technology behind the creation of nuclear energy especially the process that turns raw uranium into lowly enriched uranium can also be used to produce weapons grade uranium.
4. Radioactive elements emit radiation that travels almost at the speed of light and can penetrate into the human body where damage or mutation of biological cells can occur.

                 Should you be scared?

Despite the potential risks that could be caused by the proliferation of nuclear power, one must not completely frown or disapprove of this source of energy. The major problem encompassing the acceptance of nuclear power globally has to do with the disposal of radioactive wastes created. Nonetheless, we must not forget that these radioactive wastes do not come into contact with humans since they are heavily secured and sealed off. Except for the Fukushima reactor accident that occurred in Japan, man-made reactor accidents are very rare. Modern reactors are being constructed with multi-backup systems to limit failures in reactor plants. Even the health risks caused by nuclear radiation have been proven to be less hazardous compared to that of fossil fuels. In fact, far more people are likely to die quicker from illnesses relating from exposure to carbon and other by-products of combustion than that caused by nuclear radiation. Asides exposure to radiation caused during reactor accidents which rarely ever do occur, the average citizen is never exposed to nuclear radiation more than the radiation we receive from the sun.

Urine: The Next Source Of Energy?

About a year ago, Professor Gerardine Botte of Ohio State University came up with the idea of generating electricity from urine. Urea the main constituent of urine has shown to be the major ingredient behind this technology. The best bet yet in proliferating this concept has been through the use of fuel cells. A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts chemical energy from a fuel (in this case hydrogen) into electrical energy. Botte applied the principle of electrolysis to dissociate urea (H₂NCONH₂) into its constituent hydrogen and nitrogen. This phenomenon had previously been tried on methanol but methanol has shown to be unstable and environment unfriendly. Unlike methanol, the presence of nitrogen in urea helps to make the hydrogen generated more stable.

The use of urea as an energy source isn’t altogether new.  It has been used to power particular components in some brands of cars, trucks and even used in some chemical batteries but its application has always been limited. Latest revelations in research shows urine could be the next third generation energy source. Nevertheless, studies into this particular field hasn’t been particularly smooth sailing and expectedly, faced major challenges as reminiscent with any project. First of all was the problem of storage of hydrogen. Hydrogen cannot be stored under normal atmospheric conditions but under standardized temperatures and pressures. Secondly, hydrogen fuel cells make use of platinum catalysts to oxidize hydrogen and turn it into positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons. Platinum is quite expensive and may not be commercially sensible to be included in the final product.

Interestingly, these shortcomings have been addressed in latest developments made by researchers from Heriot-Watt University, Professor Shanwen Tao and Dr. Rong Lan. They have both succeeded in creating a fuel cell prototype that can convert urine into electricity and clean water. This prototype is much more stable and makes use of cheaper catalysts. This fuel cell called the ‘Carbamide Power System’ can transform urine into nitrogen water, carbon dioxide and most importantly electricity. The research team believes this technology when fully developed can be applied in submarines, and in power generation within arid or desert regions where water isn’t actually an abundant commodity. Despite all the positivity, this renewable energy source still has to be checked for commercial acceptance and friendliness before it can be introduced into the market. Nevertheless, a giant step has been made towards the global development goals of a greener future.

 About the Author:  Femi is a graduate of engineering and he is specializing in the area of sustainability to allow for a more greener world. Follow him on witter at @ReelDealMe